Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud

Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah bin Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud (Arabic فيصل بن فرحان آل سعود, DMG Faiṣal b. Furḥān Āl Suʿūd; born 1 November 1974 in Frankfurt am Main) is a Saudi Arabian diplomat and politician and a member of the house of Saud. Prince Faisal is the current foreign minister of Saudi Arabia appointed by King Salman with a royal decree on 23 October 2019.[1] Prince Faisal was born in Frankfurt, Germany and spent a part of his childhood and youth in Germany, which is why, according to German news media, he speaks fluent German.[2]

Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud
Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in 2020
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Assumed office
23 October 2019
MonarchSalman
Preceded byIbrahim Abdulaziz Al-Assaf
Personal details
Born (1974-11-01) 1 November 1974
Frankfurt, West Germany

Early life and political career

Prince Faisal is a member of the house of Saud. He is the son of Prince Farhan. He was born on 1 November 1974 in Germany and was educated in the US.[3][4] He served as an adviser at the Saudi Arabian Embassy in the US from 2017 to 2019.[3]

Faisal has held senior positions in Saudi and international companies, primarily the aerospace and weapons sector. He was until at least his appointment as ambassador to Germany member of the board of the arms company Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI). He then worked for the Saudi ambassador to the United States.[5]

As an expert on the defense industry he also chaired a US-Saudi joint-venture with the aerospace company Boeing.[6] Prince Faisal also served as an adviser to the Royal Court of Saudi Arabia.[3][4]

In November 2017, Saudi Arabia had withdrawn its then ambassador to Germany, Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud in protest. The kingdom responded to the statement of the then German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel. Gabriel had clearly criticized the active influence of the kingdom on the political-power constellation in Lebanon. After nearly a year of diplomatic crisis and vacancy of the ambassador position, Saudi Arabia had sent its ambassador back to Berlin. He was replaced by Faisal bin Farhan in 2017. Saudi dissidents living in Germany were not pleased with the appointment of Furhan. The dissident Khalid bin Farhan al-Saud, a distant relative of the future ambassador, feared that the diplomat could also pressure opposition representatives. He told Deutsche Welle that he did not rule out that Faisal bin Farhan had been sent to Germany to persecute the Saudi opposition in Germany. On 27 March 2019, he was appointed as ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Germany.[3] On 23 October 2019, Prince Faisal was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia.[1][7]

Ambassador Furhan has a good relationship with the strengthened Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.[8]

On 19 August 2020, Prince Faisal said the peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates could be seen as positive, but Saudi Arabia would not normalize relations until peace is signed with the Palestinians, hopefully within the framework of the Arab Peace Initiative.[9]

See also

References
  1. "Saudi royal decree appoints Prince Faisal bin Farhan as new foreign minister". english.alarabiya.net. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  2. Krüger, Paul-Anton. "Saudi-Arabien: Faisal bin Farhan wird Außenminister". Süddeutsche.de (in German). Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  3. "Ambassadors in Germany". diplomatisches-magazin.de. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  4. "Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Germany presents his credentials". english.alarabiya.net. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  5. "H.H. Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud". Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  6. "Young Saudi prince with Western experience named foreign minister". Reuters. 2019-10-23. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  7. Auswärtiges Amt. "Auswärtiges Amt - Vertretungen Saudi-Arabiens in Deutschland" (in German). Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  8. Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com). "Diskussion um Riads neuen Botschafter | DW | 12.02.2019" (in German). Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  9. Jordans, Frank; Batrawy, Aya (19 August 2020). "Saudi Arabia Cautiously Welcomes UAE, Israel Normalization". U.S. News & World Report. Associated Press.
Political offices
Preceded by
Ibrahim Abdulaziz Al-Assaf		 Minister of Foreign Affairs
2019–present		 Incumbent
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